For seven years, he steered the region’s children’s mental health agency through growth, labour disputes, changes to services and now a new facility for Pathstone Mental Health to call home.

His calendar is always full. Any personal plans he makes are at least six weeks in advance. That is just the price of the job.

But holding his grandchild has changed his perspective on a number of fronts.

So at the end of this week Katsof will step down from his post as Pathstone’s CEO, leaving its future in the hands of a new generation of leaders.

“This is the right time. I am a grandfather now, and I want to spend more time with my family,” Katsof said. “The capital campaign was more successful than we could have hoped for, and if I were to stay around any longer, Pathstone would begin the next big project and I would stay to see it through, which means a year or more. So now is the right time to retire.”

The 64-year-old is stepping down as Pathstone is nearing completion of the new facility, presently under construction. Pathstone needed $5 million to build the facility, and ended up raising $5.2 million. The extra money will be put toward the mortgage on the building so more resources can be directed to clinical staff and services, Katsof said.

Katsof said he is most proud of Pathstone’s efforts to reduce the stigma that surrounds mental health.

“It was something as simple as adding the words ‘mental health’ to our name. Before that, it wasn’t clear really what Pathstone was,” he said. “That way we were right up front with it, and people knew what we were all about.”

The annual “Shatter the Stigma” campaign helped Niagara residents understand that mental illness should be treated no differently than any other ailment of the human body. Katsof said the campaign not only reduced general stigma, but encouraged people who needed help to come forward.

“We knew if the campaigns were successful that our case load would increase,” he said.

The growth in cliental put tremendous pressure on Pathstone, which had to manage more clients at a time when funding increases were not the norm. As a result, Pathstone ended up with long waiting lists of children in need of care.

“That is something we’ve only really got a handle on in the last few months,” he said.

Pathstone has changed its service delivery methods for clients.

In the past, Pathstone clients would be assessed and then wait until the appropriate clinician is available for an appointment. Children could be waiting up to six months before being seen, Katsof said. The only exception would be children or youth in immediate crisis, such as those who may hurt themselves or others. Those cases are seen immediately.

Under the new model, a case worker calls the family within three weeks of initial contact, and that worker stays in constant contact with the family until the child leaves Pathstone’s care.

Katsof said the process is somewhat more labour intensive but gets children and youth off the waiting list and into treatment much faster.

“I don’t know what will happen should we face a real increase in demand, or how Pathstone will have to adapt if that situation arises, but right now it is making a significant difference.”

Katsof said he is staying in Niagara and will stay in contact with Pathstone as a volunteer, where he will continue to work with the agency on the completion of its new facility on Fourth Avenue.

An interim CEO is expected to be named soon by Pathstone’s board of directors, which will then begin a candidate search for a permanent replacement, Katsof said.